Courtney, delurking to say I love ly-la. Sadly I grew to like the name after the ditzy character on Friday night lights, but everytime I see the show now I question my judgment. But if I saw Alila or Lila I would probably guess a short i sound as in Lily. It will be hard to get it pronounced right from the written version and spelled right from the spoken version. As someone with one of those difficult names with odd spelling (not cara), it is a pain but not insurmountable.
As for Ali (al-ee) as a nickname, you might be able to keep it from happening when your kid is little, but what happens as your kid grows up is kind of out of your control. I knew several kids growing up whose parents lost control over what version of their name their kid was called. Parents stuck to version they liked, peers and even teachers and kid used some different version.
One of our friends did name their daughter a very unusual family name that starts with 'Ali' and the al-ee sound - I just assumed they would be using Ali as a nickname but it turns out the mother hates that shortform! Well, I will certainly respect her wishes and address her daughter with her full name, but there is just no way that she is going to be able to dictate what happens to that name as her daughter gets older. So just be prepared.
If you really want to make it more likely to get pronounced/spelled right, go with Alyla and don't worry about the embroidery on her baby clothes. The name will outlast the clothes
but either way it is a beautiful name... Congrats!
ETA: changed ah-lee to al-ee to make it more clear. a sound as in apple for the girl's nickname Ali, not as in Muhammod Ali, which is typically ah-lee with "Ahhh..." like at the doctor's office holding mouth open.
As for Ali (al-ee) as a nickname, you might be able to keep it from happening when your kid is little, but what happens as your kid grows up is kind of out of your control. I knew several kids growing up whose parents lost control over what version of their name their kid was called. Parents stuck to version they liked, peers and even teachers and kid used some different version.
One of our friends did name their daughter a very unusual family name that starts with 'Ali' and the al-ee sound - I just assumed they would be using Ali as a nickname but it turns out the mother hates that shortform! Well, I will certainly respect her wishes and address her daughter with her full name, but there is just no way that she is going to be able to dictate what happens to that name as her daughter gets older. So just be prepared.
If you really want to make it more likely to get pronounced/spelled right, go with Alyla and don't worry about the embroidery on her baby clothes. The name will outlast the clothes
ETA: changed ah-lee to al-ee to make it more clear. a sound as in apple for the girl's nickname Ali, not as in Muhammod Ali, which is typically ah-lee with "Ahhh..." like at the doctor's office holding mouth open.
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